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Let’s hear from you.. what do you think? Should the US have intervened militarily in the Russo-Georgian War? Yes, damn the consequences, stand by your friends. No, the georgians are on their own. pollcode.com free polls Poll isn’t working right, but you can click here or leave it in the comments.
Let’s hear from you.. what do you think?
| Should the US have intervened militarily in the Russo-Georgian War? | |
| Yes, damn the consequences, stand by your friends. | |
| No, the georgians are on their own. | |
| pollcode.com free polls | |
Poll isn’t working right, but you can click here or leave it in the comments.
Our word to our allies is worth nothing if we’re unwilling to help them when things are bad. Otherwise we’re just fairweather friends, and might as well go back to isolationism.
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That’s entirely true, Mike, but the question then becomes, what WAS our word to the Georgians? Did we offer them a guarantee of their territory? I think not.
Should we make it retroactive? Probably not, but I think the US humanitarian mission will make the Russians think twice before advancing. The trick is to halt the Russians without fighting them.
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It was my understanding that we’ve publically refered to the democratic government of Georgia as “allies”. If nothing else we owe them a debt for their support in winning the peace in Iraq with their boots on the ground.
It was a risky move for them to support us in more ways than one. Something most Americans are not aware of is the history of Georgia. It was one of the first Christian kingdoms, and during the Crusades, they refused to pay tribute to the Caliphate. They went so far as to print “Soldiers of Christ” (though I think my memory is slightly off on that quote) on their coinage and they named a border fort “Kiss my Backside” in order to taunt their Islamic foes. Them sending troops into Iraq probably caused more of a stir in that country than when the Mongolians sent a contigent (and the Georgians never razed Baghdad).
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That’s true. But do we go to war with Russia? I think the humanitarian lifts are a good idea, in and of themselves, plus they make a nice “human shield.” Someone else mentioned that leaving the advisors in there probably made Ivan think twice as well. Haven’t seen any confirmation on the “captured advisor” so who knows what is going on there. You’d think if they caught one, they’d want to give him back ASAP to avoid a diplomatic stink. No sense buying trouble.
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Well obviously war is to be avoided, but not at any cost. At a certain level we must make it clear to the Russians, “We know what you’re doing and why, all BS aside, but you are NOT deposing this Georgian government.” We draw that line through whatever means necessary, or else we’re going to be the 21st Century Neville Chamberlain who sells out a small country in order to keep the wolf outside our door for a little while longer.
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Not sure about Russian claims of genocide etc. All that aside, if the breakaway regions were truly that, based on majority rule, then Georgia should have let them go or further divided the areas into Georgian and Russian. Russia action regardless were overreaching and held alternative motives. Those who would compare our war in Iraq with Russia’s invasion of Georgia are totally ignorant on the comparison ie
1. Georgia unlike Iraq had not flouted multiple UN resolutions
2. US and UN were already present in Iraq due to 1990 conflict
3. Georgia did not regularly oppress it citizens.
4. US gave multiple warnings and sought Russian support for sanctions against Iraq prior to the Iraq war. (WE TELEGRAPHED OUR INTENTIONS FAR IN ADVANCE)
5. In the first few days of conflict relatively few Iraqi citizens were killed or intentionally targeted. In Georgia, hundreds died.
6. Need I go on.
Russia after years of US economic aid and growth of its petro dollars has begun to rebuild its military. It aches for its status as a superpower. Putin its leader is returning to its old ways of power succession and control of the media to shape public opinion. It says it no longer fears a return to the cold war. NO WONDER, NOTHING MAJOR EVER HAPPENNED. Another reason it doesn’t fear that possibility is that under such conditions it can continue to rebuild its military might. I don’t mind there being other super powers, but its scary when those powers are not rational.
A return to the cold war does bother me because conditions are right with the new members of NATO to lead to a rapidly escalating situation that results in direct confrontation between US and Russian forces.
Bottom line, we will do what is right and that combined with the growing insanity of Russia’s leadership will result in war.
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